Voices of the Sixties

Brokaw, Tom. Boom!: Voices of the Sixties Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today. New York: Random House, 2007.

In Tom Brokaw’s Boom!, he uses first person accounts from real people that lived during the Sixties in order to display the real experience of what

it was like to experience this defining era in American history. Through these reflections, Brokaw is attempting to bring to life the controversy and revolution of the tumultuous Sixties.

As one of the greatest writers of all time, Tom Brokaw effectively uses the reflections of both famous and ordinary citizens to show the reader what it was really like during this time period. By reading these stories I was able to get a more personal view on the Sixties instead of an informational one. Instead of reading about what h

appened from some article, it is like someone is personally telling me what happened. Boom! helped to reveal the true voice of the people that were really there and because of this it made everything that happened much more real.

Boom Boom Boom

The term “Baby Boomer” describes an individual who was born during the demographic referred to as the Post-World War II Baby Boom. Many people associate a baby boomer to the rejection of or even redefinition of traditional values and social norms. To say that the boomers redefined traditional values implies that this generation has had a profound effect on what society has become, but how large is that effect?

According to the United States Census Bureau, seventy-six million American babies were born between 1946 and 1960. This goes to show that the numbers truly do show and a great fluctuation in the nations populous.

When the boomers were growing up, the nation was going through a time of dramatic social change. With the Vietnam War going on at the time, the country was in a state of unrest, and male boomers where constantly living in fear of the draft. However the boomers usually banded to gather around a common cause in order stay hopeful.

Boomers can be put into two different categories:

Baby Boomer cohort #1 – Circa 1946-1955 (The young boo

mers who epitomized the counterculture of the sixties)

Memorable Events: Assassinations of JFK, MLK, and Bobby Kennedy, first moonwalk, the draft, civil rights movement, women’s rights movemen

t, drug experimentation, and revolutionary music.

Characteristics: Experimental, individualistic, free spirited, social cause oriented

Famous Boomers: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush

Baby Boomer cohort #2 – Circa 1956-1964 (A.K.

A – Generation Jones)

Memorable Events: Watergate, Nixon resigns, Cold War, oil embargo, inflation, and gasoline shortages.

Characteristics: Pessimistic, distrusting of the government, general cynicism

Famous Boomers: Barack Obama

Lyrical Magic

During the 1960’s, there were many factors that contributed to the counterculture that was taking place, however one of the most influential of these factors was music. In a time of such disorder and misunderstanding, why would people turn to music as the answer to their struggles? With such troubadours as Bob Dylan producing protest music, people saw this as a creative way to express their opinions and feelings about the current state of the world. With the coming of The Beatles taking the nation by storm, many people were given thoughts of change and revolution. Most of the artists during this era huddled around a common topic, revolution, however it was their styles and focuses that made them unique and effective.

Dylan's music was unlike anything anyone had heard before. His influential lyrics and smooth rhythms appealed to everyone who at the time sought consolation. Many of his songs, such as “Blowin in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin” became anthems for the civil rights movement and the anti-war cause.

Because of this, Bob Dylan became a prominent figurehead for the current counterculture. His lyrics incorporated philosophical, social, political and even literary influences, this is probably why his words were so powerful.

Come mothers and fathers

Throughout the land

And don’t criticize

What you cant understand

Your sons and your daughters

Are beyond your command

Your old road is

Rapidly agin’

Please get out of the new one

If you cant lend a hand

For the times they are a-changin’

-Bob Dylan (The Times They Are a-Changin”)